Competition
by Writer of Aenen
Summary: Inspired by SapphireGamgee's fanart: Duo hates the competition that constantly goes on between Heero and Trowa, so he hides their games. Instead of taking a break, they decide to turn the tables on him. Yet do they really?


"Competition"

Duo settled into the armchair, feeling triumphant. He had finally finished hiding the competitive games. In fact, he mused with the beginnings of a grin, the only ones he had left with the console were a couple of girly games (and he had to ask Quatre why they even had those games in the first place)- Super Sparkly Cupcake Designer and Magical Makeover.

He was hard-pressed to contain his triumph when first Trowa then Heero entered the room and headed straight for the console. "Call of Duty?" Trowa asked succinctly.

"Hn," was Heero's equally brief response.

Duo tried (and failed) to keep from leaning forward to watch his friend's face when he realized what games there were. Trowa blinked in puzzlement at the bare shelves that had been filled with games the night before. Then, immediately, he turned and looked right at Duo, who looked so guilty even a blind man would have been able to tell that he was responsible.

Trowa stared at him silently for several minutes- with Duo growing more and more uncomfortable and less and less triumphant as the moments passed- and then finally shot a look at Heero. "Can't find CoD," he said calmly. There was a significant lift to his tone that sent Heero's eyes darting once between the previously-full game shelves and Duo's guilty face.

Then he looked back at Trowa and replied simply, "Find anything else?"

Trowa's lips twitched into something dangerously close to a smirk (that he carefully kept hidden from Duo) as he answered. Unable to hide the amusement in his voice, it emerged as a choked gurgle. The usually stoic pilot cleared his throat and tried again, this time without the obvious mirth. "Two," he said. "Super Sparkly Cupcake Designer. And Magical Makeover."

Heero almost-almost!- made a face, but managed to stop it in time. He cleared his throat and said "Well."

Duo's guilt started to fade back into his triumphant feeling.

Then Heero finished his sentence. "Super Sparkly Cupcake Designer."

Duo gaped. He had never heard anything so utterly absurd as Heero's gruff voice saying those four words. Absurd and vaguely frightening because now they had turned his prank back on him and there was no way he could stop now and give them back their real games. But he hadn't expected them to actually play one of the games he'd left!

Trowa, ignoring Duo's growing horror, coolly slid the game into the console and then tossed Heero his controller.

As the upbeat, tinny, incredibly silly theme music began to play, Duo stared at his friends, still gaping. Were they really...?

They were, he realized with very real dismay as Heero selected an avatar with a pink apron and chef's hat. Trowa followed suit with a yellow-clad avatar, neither pilot giving any indication that the game bothered him.

In fact, as Duo watched, they both actually started to get into it! As though they'd intended to play the preteen girls' game all along. Heero assumed his usual gaming position: one leg tucked under him, the other braces firmly on the floor as he leaned forward, eyes glued on the TV. Trowa, on the other hand, sat in a perfect tailor-seat, elbows resting on his thighs, slowly taking more of his weight as he, too, leaned forward.

Then came the focus, the laser-sharp focus both men were so good at affecting- particularly when they were competing at something. It was the damn focus that had driven Duo to enact his plan to hide the games and force them into an alternate activity. Because the Focus became so extreme that it was actually tangible. It felt heavy and muffling and discouraged conversation- which was something Duo hated. It was also impossible to break short of a natural disaster (and even that was debatable).

As the sparkly digital confections became more and more elaborate, and his friends became more and more focused, Duo started to squirm. His plan was gone so far awry that he wasn't sure whether to give in or stick it out and hope beyond hope that Heero and Trowa would give up before they drove him mad.

Duo had just started to tug erratically on the end of his long braid- the next stage was going to be muttering to himself- when Quatre walked into the room. He blinked at the wriggling, manic Duo; the realization of what game Heero and Trowa were playing made his lips quirk up into a smirk.

"All right, guys, I think he's had enough," he said, chuckling.

To his surprise, neither looked up. Trying again, Quatre repeated, "Heero, Trowa, he's had enough. You can stop now." He glanced at Duo, who was looking at him from hopeful violet eyes.

Neither player responded. Quatre's pale eyebrows shot up and he snorted with wet amusement. "Talk about irony," he murmured.

Duo, desperate now, latched onto his friend's comment. "What about it?"

Quatre hesitated, then decided to take pity on the braided pilot- especially since it seemed that the other two had fallen into their own game. "They caught you taking the games out earlier. We all know how competitive they can get- and how nuts it makes you. So they planned on sneaking a game from one of your hiding places and launching an all-out campaign to drive you nuts." He snickered as he looked back at the focused pair. "I guess the spirit of competition was even greater than the spirit of, uh...'let's drive Duo nuts'."

Duo blinked, trying to absorb the fact that he'd been played. Then he smirked. "Well, that totally eliminates the creepazoid factor of watching Hee-chan and Tro totally get into playing-" here he snickered- "Super Sparkly Cupcake Designer."

Quatre joined him in laughter. "Yeah, but now I'm curious."

"About what?" Duo asked, missing the significance of his friend's tone.

"Which one of them is going to win."

Duo and Quatre laughed as Heero and Trowa remained completely focused on their competition to see who would be the reigning champion of Super Sparkly Cupcake Designer.


End file.
